


We're a Team

by dreamerbydawn



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Good Boyfriend Alec Lightwood, Good Boyfriend Magnus Bane, Healthy Communication, M/M, Post 2x20, but also refers to 1x09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 04:29:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12904074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerbydawn/pseuds/dreamerbydawn
Summary: There's a midnight discussion about things that really need to be said.





	We're a Team

**Author's Note:**

> Summary skills are still at zero...

“Magnus” Alec’s voice is whisper soft and Magnus is just barely awake enough to hear it.

Still, it does register into his drowsy conscious and so he hums out an inquisitive noise to indicate he heard the call, although he considers the possibility of having imagined it when Alec doesn’t say anything for a solid minute.

“I would have told you” He finally says and Magnus doesn’t immediately catch up, only shifts slightly so he can see Alec’s face in the glow of the night light.

“About the soul sword” Alec clarifies quietly, the words enough to make Magnus’s sleep heavy mind clear.

It’s been weeks since they’d made up and Alexander had come back home with him, weeks of holding Alec in his arms every night and waking up to his soft smiles in the morning, and equally importantly weeks since the downworld cabinet was renewed and amends had been made, so he doesn’t understand where this is suddenly coming from.

“Alexander, I told you, it’s in the past” Magnus’s voice is quiet, his brow furrowed with confusion and more than a little dread at revisiting that particular phase of their relationship.

“No, it’s not. I could have lost this. I could have lost you. All because I couldn’t find the words.” Alec sounds slightly choked, and quickly turns his face away from Magnus, continuing to speak facing the wall.

“When my dad told me about the sword, the first thing I thought of was telling you. He tried to make me promise not to tell you and I didn’t. I didn’t know what to do Magnus, I needed your help to find the sword, but your people needed to trust you as their leader and I – I couldn’t ask you to lie to them. I kept going over and over about if telling you was the selfish thing to do. And then you showed up for dinner and you were happy and I –“

Alec trails off for a minute and Magnus is grateful because he needs a moment too, the memory of that betrayal still stings no matter how much he understands that Alec truly meant to do the right thing.

 “I was selfish.” Alec begins again, quieter now “I couldn’t lose that, couldn’t ruin the moment, so I thought – I don’t know what I thought but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. Then you left and all I could think of was the trust you were talking about so I was making a speech about explaining it to you that night and – and I’m sorry Magnus. I’m so sorry”

He sounds scraped raw and there are silent tears running down his cheeks, Magnus simply staring at the crying boy in his bed, for once unable to find the words. He’d forgiven Alec a long time ago and yet Alec clearly hadn’t forgiven himself.

Magnus wasn’t sure he knew what to do with that and so he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, which unfortunately happens to be “I took your stele”

Alec glances at him then, tear tracks still marking silvery lines down his face, but its his turn to be confused. And unlike Alec, Magnus is not quick to offer an explanation. Instead he sits up and fiddles with the edge of the duvet, keeping his eyes on his hands until Alec moves to still them.

“Magnus?” His expression is open and questioning and Magnus is a weak man when it comes to resisting those doe eyes, besides, he started this.

“The mortal cup, I took your stele for a few minutes so Jace could open the safe” He explains, hesitant but unable to keep from watching for Alec’s reaction.

The small, punched out _‘oh’_ is shocked and Magnus can tell that Alec is thinking back to the events of that day, so he quickly begins to ramble instead.

“We both did things we thought were right and it didn’t end well. They were mistakes Alexander, nothing more”

Alec doesn’t respond though and the longer he remains quiet, the more uncomfortable Magnus feels, to the point where he can’t handle it anymore so he pleads “Alec, say something”

“I – I know you hate the clave” the words are slow, like he’s still searching for the sentences in his head “their laws have been unfair to you and your people. But I was taught my whole life that the law was the law and no matter how hard it was, following rules was the right thing.”

“Word of advice darling, but anything that demands blind faith and obedience is better off not followed” He quips, unable to stop the nervous words from tumbling out.

“I’m starting to see that” Alec agrees, but the quirk of his lips that Magnus was waiting for never came and it causes Magnus’s stomach to sink. “But my point is Magnus, I don’t know if everything I did in that situation was right, it probably wasn’t. What I do know is, all the things Jace and Clary did, what Izzy helped them do, that wasn’t right either”

“Or maybe it was one of those situations where there are no right answers” Magnus offers, tentatively reaching a hand out, palm open for Alec to take, grateful when he does so without hesitation.

“Maybe” He concedes and Magnus can see that there’s more he wants to say, although Alec takes his time in saying it, doubt shining in his wide, ever expressive eyes “But if we’re both wrong, can we be wrong on the same side?”

Magnus isn’t sure he follows that and says as much, making Alec sigh quietly “I meant – you and I, can we always just talk to each other? If you think I’m wrong, explain it to me maybe and I’ll tell you what I’m thinking and just – I don’t want us to not be on the same side Magnus.”

“That sounds fair darling, I can’t imagine there would be a situation where we can’t find a compromise that’ll work for both of us” He smiles, squeezing Alec’s hand gently in assurance.

“So we’re a team?” Alec asks, looking up through his dark lashes, quietly hopeful.

“Always Alexander” Magnus promises and honestly, it’s the easiest one he’s made, not in the least because of the small pleased smile it wins him.

**Author's Note:**

> So, second one shot i've written in a night, can y'all tell i'm procrastinating on something else?


End file.
